Amazon KDP’s new royalty announcement could significantly impact any authors self-publishing their book on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca!
Just days ago, Amazon KDP sent an email to all enrolled authors announcing major changes to author royalties that, for the first time since they began their print-on-demand operations almost two decades ago, the royalty rate for titles under $13.99 CAD or $9.99 USD will be reduced from 60% to 50% starting June 10th, 2025.
In their email, Amazon KDP claimed that the reduced royalty rate was due to increasing financial and logistical challenges facing print books in this price range. In the same email, they also announced a print cost reduction of colour books in their annual production review to entice authors to switch to colour printing.
To see which of your titles will be affected by the new changes, visit your Amazon KDP Author Dashboard. A notification will be at the top.
If you’re a new author still considering where to self-publish your book, read The Best Self-Publishing Platforms for Canadian Authors! We cover everything there is to know about the most popular self-publishing platforms, including Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), IngramSpark Publishing, Apple Books, and many more.
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing Helpful Resources
To help you understand the impact of the new royalty changes, Amazon KDP has established several resource pages for KDP authors. These include:
- Amazon KDP Help Page for marketplace-specific royalty rates and prices in local currencies across the Global Amazon Marketplace. You can also access the FAQs through this link.
- Amazon KDP Royalty Calculator that will show both your current royalties and what your royalties will be after June 10th
To learn more, please visit your Amazon KDP Dashboard, where you can download a list of all affected titles in each marketplace.
Comparing the Existing Royalty Rates for Books Under $9.99 to the New Royalty Rates
To test the new royalty rates, we looked at one of our titles, Hockey Wars, which is currently listed and selling for $8.99 USD on Amazon.com. It is a 122-page, white-paper chapter book with a black-and-white interior.
With the exciting 60% royalty, after printing and shipping costs, we receive $2.93. When the new 50% royalty rate comes into effect, that royalty will drop to $2.03. Over a 30% reduction in royalty.
The issue now facing Canadian authors is that even if you increase your prices to $9.98 USD or $13.98 CAD, you’ll still lose money under the new royalty rate. However, if you increase them to $9.99 USD or $13.99, you’ll be making more money.
It’s a tricky situation. Do you lose a little bit of money and hope that your book stays competitive with the titles around it, or do you increase prices and hope you don’t lose customers to your competition?
Encouraging Authors to Switch to Colour
In the same announcement, Amazon said in its Annual Print Review that it will decrease the cost of printing colour books, regular and large trim sizes, in some markets to encourage more authors to adopt colour printing in their books.
Unfortunately for Canadian authors, the changes have only been announced for books purchased and printed in the following marketplaces: Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, Amazon.it, and Amazon.nl.
Amazon KDP Announces Major Changes to Author Royalties | Conclusion
Canadian authors with books priced under $9.99 USD on Amazon.com or $13.99 CAD now have serious decisions to make before the new royalties take effect on June 10th. Will you leave your books priced the same and take a significant hit to your royalties? Or do you increase your prices and absorb some of the losses?
Either way, it’s not great for self-published authors in Canada, who were already struggling to compete against large publishing houses that rely on drop shipping and bulk printing.
If you are writing a book and need any assistance with paperback or ebook formatting, cover design, professional editing, uploading to self-publishing sites such as Amazon KDP and IngramSpark, or Amazon KDP keyword and category research, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We also offer children’s book illustrations and formatting services.
Our experienced and professional self-publishing team stands by to assist you with your self-publishing dreams. Do you have any additional writing or self-publishing questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out and contact us directly. One of our friendly and professional team members will get back to you ASAP!
For Canadian authors still considering whether or not Amazon KDP is the best self-publishing option for them, check out The Complete Guide to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing for Canadian Authors, where we cover everything you’ll need to know about getting started on Amazon KDP for the first time.
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below, and we’ll do our best to answer them or point you in the right direction.
